Top-closure for oil-well casings.



A. G. WILLARD.

' TOP CLOSURE FOR OIL WELL CASINGS. I

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2. I9Io.

www@ mm Maf. 27, 1917.

II II I @25g/f2 I I I I I I 7 /5 I /3 I r I I Il I I 7? 9 l I! Il I f/j HI 7I l 09%/ II! f ff' I! I :I 4 III I IA I I I I' I l I4 x -I I o I I i n Y .9 I j /j i Y. IIIII- I` /7 g v I lI if 0 f. I/ .y m 6 i III II W] I f5' y y iii .ARTHUR G. WILLARD, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

TOP-CLOSRE FOR OIL-WELL CASINGS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pgbjlmgdlimaro 2*?, 31917,.

Application led May 2, 1910. Serial- No. 559,012.

To all whom t may concern."

Be it known that I, ARTHUR G. WILLARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have. invented new and useful Improvements in Top-Closures forCil-Well Casings, of which the following` is a specification.

his invention relates to improvements in oil well apparatus, vanch more particularly to apparatus utilized in drilling oil-wells. Specifically the invention relates to top closures'for oil well casing. As is Well known, casing is lowered into the oil well as the drilling operation advances, and' through this casing the drilling rig isoperated. The top or upper-end of the casing is capped or closed with-a circulating head which may include a cap having a vertical opening through which the drilling rig may be operated, or a plain cap may be employed i Customarily, the entire means for capping or closing the top of the casing must be removed in sub-4 stituting either ofthe types of caps above specified, one for the other; and, furthermore, the entire cap with its attaching means, must be removed from the upper end of the casing to permit introduction or withdrawal of the drilling rig.,

According tothe present invention, l provide a closure or cap for the upper end of the casing which comprises separable members one of which may remain permanently attached to the upper' end of the casing, and the other of which may be removed at will,

I to permit the substitution of parts above referred to, .or to .permit the introduction or withdrawal of the drilling rig; there being provided means for detachably connectingV the two members.' The permanently attached member, or relatively permanently attached member, is formed for connection of ,pumping means,` or liquid supply means,

which are utilized to fiush the well, in the drilling operation, for the purposes well understood in the art. K

By the-provlsion of a casing cap or closure .A organized as described, 'l am enabled to more conveniently control working condi- "anelement shown in Fig. 1.

tions incident tothe drilling operation, and also to speedily cap the well when desired, as, for instance, when lowering the casing 4after stopping the pumping operation.

tively disposed; the improved casing cap means or closure being shown in association with the other features;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View, upon an enlarged scale, centrall of the showing in Fig. 1, par-ts beingbroken away and omitted lfor clearness of illustration;l and,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an element of the invention utilized in substitution for an element shown in. F ig. l1.

Corresponding parts in all the figures are designated by the same reference characters. Referring with particularity to the drawing, A designates the upper or topmost section of a well casing, thel same being shown i inFig. 1 as introduced within a wellvproduced through earth formation B.` This casing A is lowered within the well section by section as the well is formed. C designates .a portion'of ai drilling rig which extends downwardly within the casing,l of which A is a section,y and D designates the improved casing closure or cap means organized ac-y cording to the invention; d in Fig. 3 designating anelement used in substitution for E designates a casing joint such as is employed for uniting serially the sections of thecasingg such cas-` ing joint being shown inthe present instance as uniting the upper section A with the features of the invention, which latter are removed to permit the addition of successive sections as the casing is lowered.

It will be understood that the portion of the rig designated C is specifically part of aV Y string of tools used in a standard drilling rig,C such portion reciprocating vertically through the well casing A and through the closure or cap D organized in accordance with the invention. This closure Dis to be arranged as low as possible and, as shown,

' at the upper end of the casing directly above the orifice of the well holein order thatl the walking beam or other actuatingmember for the stringe-C may have suflicient play. It is an object ofthe invention to provide such a closure-D for permitting a supply of liquidwill not answerthe purposes of the presentv invention. It is an important object of the -pre'sent invention to provide such 'a cap member or closure D as may be applied to the upper section of the-well casing, immevdiately above the orifice of the well hole, by

the use of the standard collar or joint whereby the several sections of the casing are detachably connected together. This makes the invention a practicable and practical thing .for application to -standard drilling rigs without any" alterations 'of 'the same whatsoever.l And, such application of the invention at the topof thecasing dlrectly above the orifice of thewell hole permits of.

thel reciprocation of the drilling string and in no manner interferes therewith. No clo- .sure and circulating head or cap as applied at resent to rotary drilling rigs will, as

far as I am informed, answer ythe purposes.

of the present invention, as non'e such 1s capable of application and employment in accordance with the lconditions andffor the purposes set forth. -v

A particular form, construction and corn-4 bination of parts, members and features embodying the invention, is asfollowsz-The casing closure or cap means D, as shown 1nA Figs. 1 and" 2, comprises two members,g andlz., whichl are detachably united by ser curinglmeans The member. g consists of an annulus or tubular part 4 which is of the same internaldiameter as the upper casing member h comprises-a cap or platei6 which is formed to closely t .and res'tdirectly upon the upper rim of thepannulus 4, as at 7, relating now tothe form of construction shown in Figs. 1 and' 2, in contradistinction to the form d shown in Fig. 3. lThe plate or ycap 6 isprovided with acentral vertical tubular-sleeve orbearing 7 projecting both below and above the plate or cap 6, and provided at its upperfend .with a stufng box plate.

The element d shown in Fig. 3 consists of a cap or plate 14, continuous in formation, and provided with peripheral recesses 15 14 being formed and adapted to replace the plate or cap 6, when the drilling rig C is withdrawn from the casing, and to receive the bolts 9 and nuts 13 in the same manner. Jas shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in the employment .of the plate or cap 6 with its bearing or sleeve7. The member g, consisting of the annulus 4, is provided with a lateral opening `16 through which connection may be made with any suitable pumping or similar means adapted for introducing liquid to the interior of the casing.

The operation, method of use and advantages of the improvements in oil well apparatus constituting the invention will be readily understood from the foregoing de- Iscription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and the following statement z- With vthe parts assembled as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the drill rig C may be actuated so as to cause it to play through the sleeve orbearing 7 in the cap or. plate 6y which latter sealsl the upper end of the casing so that liquid introduced through the .opening 16 in the annulus 4 will descend iny the casing and serve to flush the well in assisting the drilling operation, in the wellknown manner. Furthermore, should a sudden low of oil occurvduri'n'g the drilling operation, the cap or plate 6 will prevent overflow or spouting andloss of the same. With either the, cap orlplate 6 or the cap or plate 14 in Iposition upon the annulus 4, the section A, `and'has althreaded connection, as at 5, with and withinthe .joint.E..l This vjoint .also screws onto the section A. The' entire casing may be suitably reciprocated vertically, in thecustomary manner, to cause agitation 'of the liquid introduced within the ,casing through the opening 16, and aconsequent positive scouringorvashing of the well tofree the same from cuttings and obstructions. When `it is desired towithdraw `the drillingl rig 'from the casing, it is only the cap or plate 6.may be passedvon lto the4 ksimilar to the recesses 12; said plate or cap same and secured to the annulus 4 by the bolts 9 and nuts 13, re-assembling the member g'which is relatively permanently at tached to the casing, together with the de,- tachable member h.

When it is desired to positively -seal the upper end of the casing, aft'erthe drilling rig has been withdrawn therefrom, .the member l is substituted for themember L, the bolts 9 and nuts 13 of the securing means fm, co-acting with the plate or cap 14 in the same manner as with the plate or cap 6.

It will be noted that in all of the operations above A,set forth, only the members I/ and d are manipulated, the member g being continuously connected with the casing throughlthe agency of the joint E. 'llhe connection means m also remain connected with the casing, together with the member g. 1t is therefore apparent that a great saving of time and enhanced convenience result .Ifrom the employment of two separable members, such as g and-h and g and d, together with the securing means m for uniting the two; for all that is necessary to unseal the casing, or to substitute one form of cap A0r closure forl the other is to throw oli the swinging bolts 9 from the 4cap or plate 6v or 14, and remove the latter. The improvements therefore, as has been found in practice, greatly facilitate and expedite well drilling operations and the various phases thereof. rlFhe annulus 4 being of the same in ternal diameter as the casing, it may remain in position, held to the casing by the joint E, when the closure member it or d is removed, as, for instance, for withdrawing of the string of boring tools. Ordinarily, the closurey or circulating head is in one unit, and when withdrawn the -pump connections are of necessity broken, and the closure is unscrewed from the joint at the top of the casing. 1n the present case, the lower member g, of the closure, remains in place,`with the pump connections unbroken, and no unscrewing is necessitated, but onlyA the c`on' venientmanipulation of the bolts 9 or equivalent securing means. The joint or collar 1E is always present at the top of the casing, in usual practice, and 1 utilize it to hold the `lowerlmember 'of the closure permanently upon the casing.

Having thus described my invention, 1

claim and desire to secure byf Letters Patent 1. The combination, with a sectional welly casing; of a circulating head and closurefor the upper end of the casing, qomprising two separable members, and securing means for detachably ,uniting the members; one of said members comprising an annulus, the other of said members comprising a cap or plate through which the drilling string isvertically reciprocated, and said securing means comprising swinging bolts pivotally connected with one of said members `and adapted for connection with the other of said members; and aI collar or joint detachablyv applied to the annulus and applied to the upper end of the casing eXteriorly of both and constituting a securing means.

2.. The combination, with a sectional well i casing; of a circulating head and closure for the upper end of the casing, comprising two separable members, and securing means for detachably uniting-the members; one of said members comp-rising an annulus adapted for connection with the casing, the other of said members comprising a cap or vplate through which the drilling string is vertically recip- -rocated, and said -securing means comprising swinging bolts pivotally connected with said annulus and adaptedto enter recesses in the periphery of said cap or plate, nuts being provided to holdsaid bolts within said remesses; and a collar or joint detachably ap- 'plied to the annulus and applied to the upper end of the casing eXteriorly of both and .constituting a securing means.

3. 4The combination, with a sectional Well casing; of a closure for'the casing, comprising an annulus adapted to be connected with the casing by a casing joint, and of the same internal diameter as the casing, a cap or plate adapted to be fitted to and seated upon the annulus. and through which the drilling string 'is reciprocated, and securing -means detachably uniting the annulus and the cap or plate.

4. rllhe combination, with a sectional well casing; of a circulating head and closure for the upper end of the casing, comprising an annulus adapted to be connected with thel casing byfa casing joint or collar and of the same internal diameter as thecasing, said annulus being perforated to accommodate pump connections, a cap or plate Vadapted to be fitted to and seated upon the annulus, and

- through which the drilling string. is vertically reciprocated, securing means detach- -ably' uniting the annulus and the cap or plate, and said casing joint or'l collar eX- teriorly and'detachably applied to said casing and said annulus.

5. A detachable closure for a sectional well casing having a tubular portion the internal diameter of which-isthe same asy that of the casing; andv detachable means applied eX- upper section of the casing by lsaid casing and securing means detaohably uniting the joint or collar whereby the casing joint or `unnulus and the cap. y collar 'separably overdaps the nieetngends In testimony. whereof, I have signed my of said upper section and said annulus and name to this specification in the presence of 5 is `threaded to loloh, said annlillus being o two subscribing witnesses.

the same. internaiameter as t e easing an l being perforated to accommodate pump oon- ARTHUR G' VILLARD nections, a cap adapted to be tted to and Witnesses: seated upon the annulu's, and through which y RAYMOND BLAKESLEE, 10 the drilling string is vertically reciproca-ted, B. F. FLETCHER. 

